Padangekspres.net-Dreamworks believes it may get around legal issues by basing the movie on the Halo novels. Picture: IGN / Microsoft

STEVEN Spielberg reportedly wants the screen rights to make video game Halo into a movie.

The New York Magazine movie blog Vulture claims that, in an effort to avoid getting drawn into a legal quagmire with previous Halo studios Universal and Fox, DreamWorks was looking to use the Halo novel tie-ins as the source material for a revived film.

That way, neither Fox nor Universal can sue them claiming they are owed money from DreamWorks for capitalising on all the money the studios spent developing their joint film adaptation of the bestselling game.

"That residual anger over the wasted money is the big reason why DreamWorks is so explicitly saying its project is based on the books," Vulture reports.

"By citing 'different' source material, it preemptively neutralises any attempt by Universal lawyers to demand that the new studio reimburse its $12 million in development costs."

The site added that no screenwriter has been set yet, but Pirates of the Caribbean and G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra screenwriter Stuart Beattie penned a script adaptation of the novel Halo: The Fall of Reach during the writers' strike of 2007.

However, as Vulture points out, there is plenty of reason to think that Microsoft does not really want a Halo movie, even with the likes of Oscar winner Spielberg involved, because they do not want to risk damage to their $2 billion brand.

But if there's anyone who might be able to appease them, it's Steven Spielberg, whose name has been associated with the Halo movie in the past.